Callen, Stevenson oust Mundelein

We won't call it an every evening nightmare.

After all, there is more to life than the sport of water polo.

However, Stevenson High School goalie Becky Callen can replay that game from last year at a moment's notice. It still haunts her a little.

"We were up 5-0 in the first half,'' Callen said. "And in the second half, we came out a little cocky and didn't fight."

Callen can move on now from her team's collapse and loss to Mundelein in last year's sectional final.

That's because her Patriots (29-4) are still playing this spring. The Patriots' next adventure will take place in their own pool next Friday. It's called the state tournament.

Melissa Gartenberg scored 7 goals and Allison Travetto added 6 goals in the 16-6 romp over the host Mustangs on Saturday.

"This means a lot for me, especially since I'm a senior," Callen said. "We really work well together. Melissa (Gartenberg) and Allison Travetto) did the scoring. But defense wins championships as coach (Jeff) Wimer tells us.''

Gartenberg had the Patriots off and running early when she tallied the first two goals of the game. It took all of two minutes.

"We want to go all the way this year,'' Gartenberg said. "And we played so well."

Now, as one-sided as this match appeared, the Mustangs stayed close to the Pats early. Stevenson's 3-0 first quarter lead was down to 4-2 when both Emily Garcia and Allie Boothe tallied.

Mundelein (22-12) was down a few starters due to injuries but was staying close to the favored Patriots.

"We knew this would be a battle,'' said Mundelein coach Drew Schneider. "This is true rivalry. We beat them last year. I felt like Tom Thibodeau (Chicago Bulls coach). It's next man up for us. We started two girls this year who had never played before."

Mundelein's Kerrie Kozokar scored in the second quarter to cut the Pats' lead to 5-3. And that's when Stevenson turned up the heat. Travetto scored two goals in 22 seconds and then fed Gartenberg to give the Pats an 8-4 lead. It was soon 12-4. Two more goals came from Gartenberg.

"Our game plan was to win every quarter,'' said Wimer. "We did a very good job at that. Last year hurt a lot but we had a lot of girls returning. They have worked hard since last year. I'm very proud of them."

Stevenson's lead was 12-4 heading to the fourth quarter. Autumn Hoang joined in on the scoring fun for Stevenson. Travetto scored the final goal of the day for the winning Pats. And she's ready for the next step in the state playoffs.

"We played to our fullest potential today,'' Travetto said.

Boothe had 3 goals for the Mustangs. Garcia added 2 goals. Anna Ward was the Mundelein goalie for three quarters and she notched 10 saves. Callen's 17 saves paced the Stevenson defense.